Improvement in car-couplings



T. H. CROSS.

, Bar-Couplings.

N0. 142,993. Patented September 23,1873.-

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ThomaaH. Gram UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIoE.

THoMAS H. CROSS, OF EAST BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN CAR- COUPLINGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 142,993, datedSeptember 23, 1873; application filed May 5, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS H. (Ross, of East Boston, in the county ofSuffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Couplings for Railway Cars or Carriages, of which thefollowing is a specification:

The object of my invention is to provide a simple and effective means ofconnecting and disconnecting railway-carriages, whereby the liability ofaccident to life and limb incident to cars as ordinarily constructed iscompletely obviated; and my invention consists in providing each bunterof the car with a hooked pin and a pivotal vibratory link, provided withmechanism, as hereinafter described, whereby the coupling or uncouplingof the cars may be readily effected without the necessity of a persongoing between them. My invention is adapted to either freight,passenger, or coal cars.

Figure 1 is a front-end elevation of the body of an ordinary freight-carprovided with my invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3is a vertical section of the bunter and the draw-bar.

In the accompanying drawing, A denotes the body of an ordinaryfreight-car, the same being provided with bunters or buffer-heads B, ofthe usual character. 0 is the couplinglink, which is pivoted to a shaft,to, extending transversely through the draw-bar b, which, by means ofsupporting-plates, is securely fixed to the body of the car. As shown inthe drawing, this bar is of a rectangular shape, and is disposed withina chamber formed within the bunter, which is of the ordinary skeletonform, and provided with mechanism of the usual character for relievingthe concussion of the cars when brought together. 0 is a pinion affixedupon one end of the shaft a, and engaging with a rack, d, upon theslidebar D. This bar is disposed in the first part of the car-body, andis supported in guides e f, so as to enable it to be moved freely up anddown. E is a hand-lever affixed to the bar D. F and G are levers pivotedto the body and near its lower part, these latter levers having theirshorter arms extended into a slot formed in the bar D, and their longerarms extended out to the sides of the car,

and in such position as to enable them to be readily operated by aperson standing at the side of the car. The said bar D is also providednear its top with a rack, g, which oper ates with a tooth or shoulder,71., disposed on the inner face of the guide 0, a spring, '5, arrangedas shown in Fig. 2, serving to retain the two in engagement, and thusmaintain the link when moved into any desired position in a fixed orlocked state. 70 is a hooked pin which extends down through thebunterhead, to which the link of the adjacent car, when coupled, is tobe connected. Each bunter is provided with a hooked pin and link, butonly one link and pin being employed at one time, the other being foruse in case of accident to their fellows. The hand-lever at the top ofthe bar D is to enable a person standing on the top of the car to eithercouple or uncouple the cars, as may be desirable. The side levers F andG enable a person on the ground to readily effect the same results.

The above-described construction is especially adapted to freight-cars.For passengercars the bar D should be shortened, the top hand-bar beingarranged at such a height as to be readily operated from the platform,the

side levers remaining the same. I

A modification of my invention or mode of connecting the bar D with thelink is shown in Fig. 4, the same consisting in making such bar with ajoint, and connecting it directly with the link.

For low coal-cars the link-shaft may extend the width of the car, and beoperated by a hand-wheel on each of its ends.

By taking hold of the aforesaid levers and moving the same either up ordown, the rack of the bar D will be made to so act upon the pinion-shaftof the link as to vibrate and either raise or lower the latter to anydesired degree, to either couple the link with the pin of an adjacentcar or disconnect it therefrom, as may be desired.

From the above it will be seen that the peculiar feature of my inventionis the pivotal vibratory link, combined with a hooked pin, disposed onthe top of the bunter, the link being provided with mechanism by whichthe latter may be moved into engagement with the hooked pin, ordisconnected therefrom,

when the hunters of two cars are brought together, and'without thenecessity of a person: going between them.

It will also be seen that my invention can be readily applied to oldcars of the ordinary construction without disarranging the old method ofconnecting, so that such might still be used should it become necessary.

It will also be further seen that by my con struction and arrangementcars whose hunters may vary in height may be as readily connected anddisconnected as those Whose bunters are in the same horizontal plane,provided.

the difference is not so great as to cause one to override the other.

What 1 claim is- The link 0, pivoted to the draw-bar b, and operated bymeans of the bar D, having rack g, and the levers E F G, as described.

THOMAS HENRY CROSS.

Witnesses:

- F. P. HALE, F. O. HALE.

